


Midnight in the Garden

by sanctum_c



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Dreamsharing, F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c
Summary: The figure did not react at first; she continued tending to a clump of yellow flowers. Tifa was about to repeat her name, when Aerith glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”Something disturbs Tifa's sleep at Elmyra's house.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Comments: 9
Kudos: 91





	Midnight in the Garden

A creak outside; Tifa’s eyes shot open, muscles tensed and ready. Had not expected to sleep tonight – not after everything, but exhaustion seemed to have forced the issue.

Disorientation; an unfamiliar bed, an unfamiliar room. An unfamiliar scent in the air. No. Not unfamiliar, more missed and badly so. Flowers. This was Aerith’s house. And Tifa was in her bed. She struggled up. Someone moving around in the house. Could be Elmyra. Could be Barret. Hopefully not Marlene. Could be Cloud.

The last vestiges of exhaustion faded; not going to be able to sleep easily like this.

A wave of guilt and sadness, fear, hostility, futility, loss. Jessie was dead. Biggs was dead. Wedge was somehow alive – along with so many of the Sector Seven denizens. But Seventh Heaven was gone; the building smashed and broken. The knot in her chest intensified. How close had they all come to failing when the plate fell-

Another creak outside; someone descending the stairs. Someone to talk to.

Tifa flung the covers back and padded to the door.

A glimpse of pink and red vanishing down the stairs. She blinked hard and moved onto the landing. Below a figure stepped from the stairs; red jacket. Pink dress. Braided brunette hair with a pink ribbon. Impossible.

Must be Elmyra, or she must be dreaming-

Tifa padded down the stairs; mercifully quiet in her socks. The light was on in the living room but the room was empty. Another flicker of motion, of light reflecting on glass as the door swung to. The garden beyond was dark. Someone had walked out of the house.

Foolish. But Tifa kept on going. Cool and quiet outside. The distant rumbles of thunder from the upper plate, the inexhaustible workings of the Mako reactors. The waterfall pouring nearby.

The floral scent enveloped her, stronger than during the daylight hours.

Ahead, a spot of light from somewhere illuminated the central island of the sprawling garden. A singular figure crouched in the centre, surrounded by grass and flowers.

“Aerith.” Tifa murmured.

The woman taken by Tseng hours earlier, impossibly here and tending to her garden. Like nothing had happened. Tifa hurried on, wishing she had put her boots on. Nothing so far, but any moment she was going to stand on a loose stone and her socks would BE grubby in no time. And the grass-

But to delay, to risk breaking this – whatever it was – would be worse.

Breathing hard when she traced the path around. No stealth, no attempts to remain quiet, but Aerith had not reacted. A glance towards the house; the upper windows dark. No one else awake.

“Aerith?”

The figure did not react at first; she continued tending to a clump of yellow flowers. Tifa was about to repeat her name, when Aerith glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”

“How can you-“ She blinked still moving forward. A green haze surrounded the garden. Almost on the edge of visibility, the rest of Sector Five, the rest of Midgar fading away into the dark. “Is this a dream?”

Aerith hummed an unfamiliar tune. “You could think of it like that. Or maybe I am here-“ She held up her hand; as Tifa tried to take it, her fingers closed through what felt like thin air. Aerith sighed. “Nice to pretend.”

“Are you okay? Where are you? Thank you for saving Marlene. I’m sorry they took you-“ Tifa caught her breath. “Where are you?”

“A childhood home.” Aerith’s expression darkened. “Not a nice one.” She wandered to the edge of the island. “Back in the Shinra building. Like I never left but it's so much smaller now. So much more cramped.”

“The Shinra building-“ Tifa gazed up to the plate, a hundred options rising and fading. Trains, hiking through the train tunnels, somehow getting hold of a helicopter, scaling the outside of one of the reactor- Barret would not cope well with the last and the increasing drop from a three hundred meter climb. “We’ll rescue you.” Tifa paced, exasperated. “Sorry, we should have set off before. When we heard they’d taken you. But we didn’t know where- Of course it was there. Should have gone as soon as we knew Marlene was safe. But your Mom- Sector Seven.” Tifa clenched her fists, stomach in knots, eyes squeezed tight shut and fighting back the tears, the deluge of emotion the last day threatened to drown her in.

Something warm against her cheek. Tifa opened her eyes; Aerith had cupped Tifa’s cheek with her hand. The warmth; Aerith was so warm. A detail not previously noted when they helped pull each other over obstacles in the sewers and the train graveyard. “Thank you.”

“Aerith?”

“I can’t say I want to be here, but please don’t risk yourself on my account.”

A tear trickled down Tifa’s cheek; her swiped at the treacherous eye with the gloved heel of her hand. “You don’t get a say in this. Your mom- She told us about how you came to live here. And after everything’s that happened- No.” She shook her head. “We can’t trust Shinra to do the right thing. We can’t trust they’ll let you go, or you’ll be okay. You got out once and we are getting you out again.” Her voice became stronger. “No; we're risking things.”

Aerith smiled wryly. “Looks like your mind’s made up.” She clasped her hands behind her back, swaying on her feet. She opened her mouth to say something, stopped and grinned again. “I have an idea for a thank you and a payment. But those are going to have to wait until you see me.” She pointed plate-wards. “Sun’s about to come up. I'm look forwarding to seeing you.”

“Aerith.” The word was clumsy and slurred, impossible to pronounce and strange on her tongue. Her mouth was too warm, she was too warm. Tifa opened her eyes. Aerith’s room, sunlight streaming in through the window. A dream? Or purely a dream? Aerith was an Ancient; some power of theirs? So many myths about them.

Tifa struggled upright. Need water. Need the bathroom. But – no matter what Elmyra said, no matter the obstacles – they would rescue Aerith.


End file.
